Understanding Development

This book addresses topical development issues in India, ranging from land acquisition, poverty alleviation programs, labor market issues, the public-private partnership (PPP) model and fiscal federalism. It offers an Indian perspective on the dynamics of economic development and the impact the country's legal and public policies have on it. Economic development is a dynamic concept - old problems are solved, while at the same time new issues come to the fore. The emergence of these issues is unique to the development experience of an economy. The book includes sixteen recent contributions and is divided into four sections: law and contract; trade and foreign aid; issues in public economics; and the social sector and poverty alleviation. The chapters reflect on a number of development issues which were of concern for India in the recent past and will be important in her future development initiatives such as land acquisition, agricultural productivity, employment, protection of intellectual property rights, corruption, public-private partnership, regional development, poverty alleviations programs like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the training of self-help group members, health and education of women, to name a few. The book is a valuable reference resource for policy practitioners and researchers working on the economics of development with special focus on developing economies.

1. Introduction.- 2. Does an employment protection law matter? A panel data analysis of selected OECD countries, 1985-2012.- 3. Network of legal citations: an analysis of some supreme court decisions on land acquisition in India.- 4. Surrogacy Contracting and Intermediation.- 5. Sharecropping in theory and practice: a selective review.- 6. Trade in Intermediate Goods, Endogenous Growth and Intellectual Property Rights.- 7. Multi-market Firms and Export Quota: Effects of Withdrawal of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement.- 8. Does foreign aid corrupt? : A theoretical note.- 9. Public-private Partnerships and Governance.- 10. Principles of Allocating Development Grant at Sub-National Level in India: A Suggested Methodology.- 11. Fiscal rule and social sector spending: A study of north east India.- 12. An Analysis on Impact of Employment Generation Policies on Rural Women in West Bengal, India.- 13. Poverty in Best Bengal: a review of recent performance and programmes.- 14. The Impact of MGNREGS on Rural Households: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment.- 15. Does parental education have any role to play on female child disadvantage?. 16. School attendance and employment of youth in India: Convergence across caste and religious groups?.- 17. Adverse Effect of Bio-mass Fuel use on Pregnancy Outcome in Rural India.